Tearing Off the Band-Aid

Time and weather are not friends of real cedar shake roofs. Homeowner Pam Lariviere was reminded of this when she had to replace her cedar shingles with composite shake tiles from DaVinci Roofscapes.

“We had to face facts,” says Lariviere. “The home was built in 1995 with a beautiful cedar shake roof. However the age of the roof and extreme weather conditions had taken their toll and increasingly the roof needed repairs.

“This summer we had an unusual number of damaging hail storms combined with high winds. After each storm we found splintered bits and pieces of wood shakes on the ground. We decided that rather than continue to use a Band-Aid approach to maintain the roof, it was time to replace it.”

Searching for a New Roof

Lariviere wanted to keep the look and feel of her original roof, but she knew another real cedar roof was out of the question. She was tired of being penalized by rising insurance premiums because of the real cedar shakes. She was ready for a roofing product that would stand up to their rough Colorado weather conditions.

After doing a great deal of online research, Lariviere discovered DaVinci products and the positive online reviews.

“I contacted the headquarters for DaVinci and Danielle Wiese in customer service was very helpful,” says Lariviere. “She sent us composite shake samples, answered many questions and provided addresses of homes and country clubs in our area so we could go see what the composite roofing product looked like in person.

“We discovered that DaVinci products most closely resemble the profile of a cedar shake roof without the costly maintenance issues of real cedar. We also determined that the composite shake roof delivered on performance with its Class A fire rating, Class 4 impact resistance and 110 mph wind rating. Those impressive features sold us on the DaVinci roofing product.”

Changing HOA Rules

After making the decision to invest in a composite shake roof, Lariviere next had to gain permission to install a composite roof from her homeowners association. The Kissing Camels community is made up of 600 homes governed by strict rules and covenants.

“I met personally with the Architectural Control Committee and explained what I’d learned about the benefits of a composite roof,” says Lariviere. “I shared with them the aesthetics, performance and improved home values of using such a product. The Committee unanimously approved our roof and is the process of updating the guidelines to include DaVinci roof shingle examples for other homeowners.”

Selecting Color

With that hurdle behind her, Lariviere set her sights on making a color selection. She went back to DaVinci for assistance.

“We had decided on a Bellaforté Shake roof and narrowed our color selection to either a Mountain or Tahoe blend,” says the homeowner. “That’s when Danielle offered to connect us with Kate Smith, a national color expert, to gain her insights.

“Kate’s advice was very insightful. The Mountain color matched our dark window trim, but as Kate pointed out, the Tahoe blend would better integrate our home into the surrounding environment with Pike’s Peak as a backdrop.”

According to Smith, who offers free color advice regularly to DaVinci customers, the homeowners couldn’t go wrong with either color. “Mountain would have more ‘weight’ on this house, giving it a stronger presence,” says Smith, chief color maven at Sensational Color. “However, the circular drive and entry of the home look like they might blend nicely with Tahoe.

“The area around the house also seems to have this color, so Tahoe would integrate the home into the surrounding environment. The slightly lighter colors in the Tahoe blend would also be nice on a single story home.”

Roofer Insights

With her roofing product and Tahoe color selected, Lariviere next set out to find a roofer to make her roof replacement dreams come true.

Her search brought her to Krueger Brothers Construction, a small family-owned business out of Colorado Springs dedicated to exceptional service for their projects.

“As an example, on August 6th of this year there was a huge hail storm in this area with three- to four-inch sized hail. This tore apart many real cedar roofs. The only roofs I saw unaffected by this storm were those made of steel or DaVinci composite roofing.

“The DaVinci product is a win-win for any homeowner replacing a roof in our area. They get a beautiful looking roof that can really stand up to our unpredictable weather conditions.”

Talk of the Neighborhood

With her new composite shake roof in place, Lariviere and her family can rest easier. Their home is protected from Mother Nature and they’re becoming the talk of the neighborhood.

“Neighbors are very complimentary of the authentic look of our new DaVinci roof,” says Lariviere. “On our street alone, four of our neighbors are considering the product.”

The family has also discovered other benefits of the composite roof.

“We have already experienced our first rain storm since putting on the DaVinci roof and it’s even quieter than our old shingle roof,” says the homeowner. “And, we’re now receiving a discount on our homeowners insurance because of our new roof.

“Unfortunately, the risk of wildfires and hail storms appears to be increasing in Colorado. As a homeowner, we needed to do our best to protect the investment in our home. For us, that meant having a no-worries DaVinci shake roof installed.”